Chapter 18: Higher Payment? Say No More

Zone 0?

Summer had some information about that place from the original owner’s memories, but since she had never actually stepped foot inside it, what she knew was quite limited.

Still, there was one thing she knew for sure: Zone 0 was basically the center of everything.

Unlike the other Zones, which were ranked from F to SSS based on how dangerous they were, Zone 0 did not have a fixed rank.

It was because the Sentinels had completely cleared the area a long time ago, and over the years, Zone 0 had slowly grown into the center of government, business, healthcare, and almost everything important in the country.

It was basically the safest and most developed place anyone could live.

Unfortunately, just because it was safe did not mean everyone was allowed to enter.

Zone 0 was extremely strict about who could come inside. For ordinary people, there were only a few ways to get in; they could be talented students who managed to enter the famous Zone 0 Academy, or they could be powerful Sentinels and Guides with a rank of S or higher.

And if someone had neither talent nor strength? Well, there was always the third option: influence.

The Beaumont family was a perfect example.

As one of the military weapon suppliers in Zone 33, the Beaumont family had enough connections and influence that going in and out of Zone 0 was nothing unusual for them.

However, since Summer had been kicked out of the Beaumont family when she was seventeen and clearly was not talented enough to enter on her own, she had never once gotten the chance to step foot inside Zone 0.

And now? Well, well, well. How ironic.

The original owner of this body had spent her entire life unable to enter Zone 0, only for her body to finally get a ticket inside after someone else had taken over.

"I’ve already contacted Dr. Rinko at the Zone 0 headquarters and told her about your condition," Dr. Jojo said.

Summer immediately pulled herself out of her thoughts and looked at her.

Dr. Jojo was still focused on the tablet in her hands, quickly entering Summer’s information into the system.

A few seconds later, Summer’s terminal lit up.

[Dr. Jojo Glenn had sent you an Access Card to Zone 0 (Expired: 7 days from now)]

[Do you accept?]

[Yes/No]

Summer immediately clicked on Yes.

[Access Card Accepted.]

[You may enter Zone 0 within the next 7 days.]

Summer stared at the notification for a few seconds before closing the panel.

Well, that was surprisingly easy.

Before Summer could think about it any further, Dr. Jojo suddenly spoke again. "Oh, and one more thing."

Summer looked up. "Yes?"

Dr. Jojo glanced through the result on her tablet. "Your birth control implant is still working properly. There doesn’t seem to be any problem with it."

Summer blinked several times when she heard that.

Right.

In a world like this, birth control was basically a must for any woman who wanted to stay active and keep entering Polluted Zones.

After all, the government did not want to risk babies being born with defects because of pollution exposure. Because of that, pregnant women were strictly forbidden from entering any Polluted Zone.

So naturally, many female Guides and Sentinels simply used birth control if they planned to keep working in the field.

"If you ever want to remove it later, you can ask Dr. Rinko to do it for you," Dr. Jojo continued. "Or, if you prefer, I can remove it here before you—"

"No, I’m good," Summer quickly cut her off. "I don’t have any plans to have children for a while."

Especially not now.

She had only just arrived in this world. She had finally made Seven hundred thousand dollars, her livestream was doing ridiculously well, and she had barely started enjoying her new freedom.

A baby? Yeah, no. Not anytime soon.

Dr. Jojo looked at her for a moment before saying, "Well, considering your compatibility with Mr. Reed, there might even be a chance that you could give birth to an SSS-Rank Senti—"

"I’m good, thank you," Summer repeated, emphasizing that she really had no plans to have children anytime soon.

Fortunately, Dr. Jojo seemed to understand the message and did not bring it up again.

"All right, then." She put her tablet aside and allowed Summer to get up from the examination bed. "Everything else looks fine, Miss Beaumont. You’re good to go. I hope you get the best results when you visit Zone 0."

Summer got off the bed and straightened her clothes. "Thank you."

With that, she left the examination room. The moment she stepped into the hallway, she saw Archer was already waiting for her outside.

He was leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest. His head was slightly lowered, and his eyes were completely closed.

Summer tilted her head to the side, watching her for a while. Was he sleeping?

She walked toward him in silence, and when she was finally standing in front of him, she raised her index finger toward his cheek, wanting to poke it.

"You’re done?" Archer caught her wrist before she could touch him.

Summer looked at him awkwardly and immediately tried to focus on anything except Archer’s face.

"Y-Yeah. I just finished." She cleared her throat. "What about your test results?"

"They’re good. Better than usual," Archer replied calmly. "Thanks to your guiding."

Now that there was no danger around them or BeastNet comment section to distract her, Summer felt more awkward than usual.

She did not even know what she was supposed to say to Archer.

Fortunately, Archer spoke before the atmosphere between them could become even more awkward. "There’s something I want to discuss with you."

Summer finally looked at him.

"Our compatibility is very high," Archer continued. "Once the government receives our test results, they’ll most likely ask you to keep guiding me in the future."

Of course. There was no way the government would ignore the fact that there was someone who could make one of their greatest assets function normally.

"Before they make that decision for you, I think it would be better if you sign an agreement with me directly."

Summer’s awkwardness slowly disappeared. An agreement?

Archer continued calmly, "If we have our own agreement, I’ll make sure you receive a higher payment from the government."

Summer’s rabbit ears twitched and she immediately straightened her back. Higher payment?

"And I’ll pay you separately for every guiding session you provide."

Her ears immediately stood straight up and the awkward atmosphere suddenly disappeared.

Summer looked directly into Archer’s eyes for the first time since leaving the examination room. "How much?"